Is The OA 'inspired' by Stranger Things? Creators reveal the truth

The OA premiered a few days ago on Netflix and fans have not stopped comparing it with another Netflix show, Stranger Things. The viewers have found a number of similarities ever since the trailer of The OA was released.

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Both the shows deal with a young woman possessing supernatural powers who escapes a scientific imprisonment and their nose bleed when their powers are used. How could the two shows be so similar? In a recent interview, Zal Batmanglij, co-creator of The OA, shared that he and the makers of Stranger Things are actually good friends and knew that they were working on a project, but never really revealed any details.

About a month after The OA got approved to be aired on Netflix, Batmanglij learnt that his friends Matt and Ross Duffer's show has also been approved by Netflix for streaming as well. The friends started meeting once every couple of weeks to commiserate on the idea of trying to undertake an eight-hour movie project. But Batmanglij explains that he and the Duffers never spoke about the plots of their shows assuming that the storylines were different. When Stranger Things aired in the summer of 2016, Batmanglij realised the show similarities and was "blown away."

"I was floored. And I think the similarities are awesome because I don't know where they came from or how. Maybe that's part of a larger mystery. I've read funny things where people think we copied the nosebleeds, but our show was shot roughly around the same time as Stranger Things – maybe a little later. They didn't know about our show and we didn't know about theirs in terms of content. It's eerie," Batmanglij shared in an interview with Rolling Stones.

The OA creator, as a sign of appreciation and friendship, included a small clip from Stranger Things in one of the fourth episode of the series. If you notice, when Jesse returns home in the episode, a scene from Stranger Things is being played on TV in the background of the scene.

"It hadn't even come out yet. I just thought we should have it. It's these two shows having an inter-dimensional moment in time. I don't think it's an accident both shows are fascinated by that theme," the director shares.

If you haven't seen the show yet, you can log into Netflix and stream the eight episodes online.